All for a cup of whine
by Lilya
Summary: Set three or four years after the war. King Conchobar’s plan concerning Deirdre’s marriage are about to be spoiled by an accident…or was it?


Title: All for a cup of whine

Author: Lilya

Genre: Romance

Summary: Set three or four years after the war. King Conchobar's plan concerning Deirdre's marriage are about to be spoiled by a simple accident…or was it?

Pairing: Rohan/Deirdre

Rating: G

Disclaimer: I own the plot and that's all.

Author's note: English is not my native tongue. If you find any mistake, please correct me.

* * *

**All for a cup of whine**

"Is everything clear?" King Conchobar asked.

"Yes, father," replied softly Deirdre, his daughter. Though she was wearing a beautiful white dress that suited her perfectly and the celebration they were going to attend was in her honor, the princess looked pale, sad and weary.

Probably it was because of the reason of the celebration: she was to announce whom she had chosen as her husband with an ancient, though simple, rite. The problem wasn't the rite itself, but the man she was to choose against her will: Garrett. The man her father had chosen.

"You remember what you must do, don't you?" the King asked for the nth time.

Deirdre took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, father, I do."

"Good. Remember, the ceremony starts in less then half an hour." And he was gone before Deirdre could say "yes father" one more time.

Deirdre sighed. She got to her feet and walked to her window, leaning on the window-sill. The sun was slowly setting, far away into the west.She was so nervous. Rohan was going to be there, and also Angus and Ivar.

Deirdre closed her eyes and prayed that everything would turn out just fine. If it didn't…well, she didn't want to think about the consequences, thankyouverymuch. She shuddered at the unwanted thought and tried to think about something else.

After a few moments, a maiden walked in and told her that her father and his guests were waiting for her.

Deirdre took another deep breath, her stomach clenching with nervousness. She held her head high and marched into battle.

The crowd cheered when she entered the hall. So much noise, so many faces all around her…she felt entrapped, cornered. She fought both the wave of nausea that assaulted her and the urge to look at her old friends. She knew exactly where they were – Angus, former thief, Mystic Knight of Earth and now a soldier, Ivar, Mystic Knight of Water and Prince of a distant land; Rohan, former Druid apprentice, Mystic Knight of Fire and now King of Temra.

'I must not look at them,' she thought, as she curtsied to the King. She took the decanter from Cathabad's hands and slowly turned toward the table. Garrett was sitting there…she concentrated, looking at him at the point of not seeing anything else – 'I must not watch them, I must not watch them, I must not…' – and started walking toward him.

Step by step.

The table coming closer and closer.

On the table, a mug finely chiseled.

One last step. Deirdre filled the mug with wine, then she took a step back and waited for Garret to drink.

The Prince, whose eyes hadn't left her since she had entered the room, smiled at her, then he lowered his gaze on the mug as he reached for it. And his hand promptly froze in mid-air.

Deirdre swallowed hard, frowning.

"What's the matter, prince Garrett?" King Conchobar asked him.

"This is not my mug…" he choked out, still staring at the object.

As silly as it might sound, that was, indeed, a serious matter, for every boy had his personal ceremonial mug, made exactly for that kind of ceremony. The girl poured whine in her fiancé's mug, then they drank together, signaling the whole community that they had decided to become man and wife. That's why every boy got his own mug when he reached adulthood: there was not a mug similar to another, they were made so to be easily distinguishable.

"Hey…That's Rohan's mug!" said Ivar, who sat near the other Prince.

"No, it's impossible, mine is…" Rohan turned back toward the table, then paled. "But…it was here…"

"How can it be Rohan's mug?" Deirdre argued. "It was in front of Garret…"

"No. Now mine is there, right in front of Rohan…" Garrett replied, shocked. "I don't understand…It was right here a moment ago."

"What do we do now?" Angus asked, voicing everybody's thoughts.

"We must discuss this in private. Let us go to Cathabad's chamber." The King ordered "And bring the two mugs." he added, looking at the two objects as if he wanted to break them.

The four men stood up and followed the King, the princess and the druid on the wooden stairs.

"Explain what happened exactly." The King said.

Deirdre cleared her voice and answered: "I don't have the slightest idea…I just filled the cup as I was supposed to do. Since it was in front of Garrett, I took for granted that it was his own."

"How couldn't you see that it wasn't mine?" Garrett cried out.

Deirdre glared at him. "I didn't pay attention, I was too nervous!" she replied. "What about you? If you had noticed that I wasn't filling your mug, you could have told me, but you didn't realize that it wasn't yours even if it was right under your nose."

"Calm down, daughter," the King tried to soothe her. "Now the rite has been done…What shall we do, Cathabad?"

The druid was silent for a while, then he turned to his former apprentice. King Rohan, are you sure that your mug was the one to be filled?"

The Knight looked briefly at the cup, then nodded. "Aye, it's mine. But I don't know how it ended up there"

"As I don't know how my own could be in front of you…" Garrett said, glaring at him.

"I was near you," Ivar spoke up "And I can grant you that nobody touched your cup or Rohan's. If it had happened, I would have noticed it…and so would you."

Cathabad sighed: "If nobody touched those cups, then we must interpret it as signal of the Gods' will…Deirdre shall marry Rohan"

"What?!" Garrett cried out.

"But Cathabad…" the King tried to argue.

The druid held up his hands. "So the Gods have spoken. We cannot go against their will."

King Conchobar bowed his head and then turned to Rohan. "What do you say, King Rohan of Temra, friend and ally?"

Rohan hesitated for a moment, then answered: "If this is the Gods will, I shall obey. I will marry your daughter, King Conchobar, friend and ally."

The King turned to his daughter: "What do you say, Deirdre?"

She just shrugged her shoulders: "Whatever I say, it does not matter."

"It matters to me," said Rohan. "Please, Deirdre…We used to be friends once. Would you not speak your mind?"

Deirdre raised her gaze and looked at him in the eyes: "I have no objection." she said simply.

Catahbad's eyes glinted: "So the prophecy of Draganta is fulfilled…" Everybody turned to look at him. "I doubt that war will come again, once that Temra and Kells will be united in a single country."

Rohan turned to Deirdre and took her hand. "You see, my lady? This was fate…"

And for the first time that evening, Deirdre smiled. Garrett watched the scene unfolding with burning hanger. As they exited the room, he passed by Angus and Ivar, glaring at them. "I'm not sure if you are completely stranger to this _accident_…" he growled.

"What are you implying, Prince Garrett?" replied Angus, glaring back.

The prince didn't answer and stormed off.

"Sore loser…" Angus muttered. "Always was and always will be."

"Let us go, Angus," said Ivar. "Tomorrow we have a special meeting…" he added in a lower voice.

The former thief grinned: "A meeting I surely won't miss…"

The next day, the four friends gathered in the only place in the world where they wouldn't be overheard: Pyre's cave.

Deirdre and Rohan drank their wine from a single and simple cup. The rite was finally done. Angus and Ivar clapped.

"Congratulations" Ivar said. "I hope you will be happy…"

"Oh, we will," Rohan replied, wrapping an arm around Deirdre's shoulders.

"Surely more than Garrett…" the princess added, smirking.

Angus laughed: "You should have seen him…He was furious! I think he suspects some trick, but he will never be able to prove anything…"

Rohan, Deridre and Ivar laughed as well.

"Well…" Deirdre said when she regained her breath. "This shows what a good plan and a good team can do, doesn't it?"

"You two are terrible," Ivar said, smirking. "I'm very glad that I'm your friend…"

"Anyway, it's just thanks to you if our plan worked," said Rohan as Deirdre nodded her agreement.

"Ah, that was nothing!" said Angus, with a glint in his eyes. "After all, what is a simple exchange of goblets after a lifetime of stealing purses? And then I had Ivar, who covered my moves…"

Ivar shrugged his shoulders: "Just a little bit of storytelling…I just happened to have the perfect tale to keep their minds off the surroundings. Beside, the true star of the evening was Deirdre"

"Aye," Angus agreed. "Perfect acting, my princess. If I hadn't known better, you would have fooled me."

"You flatter me," Deirdre replied, blushing. "You are the true heroes. I don't think you know how much we owe you."

"You don't owe use anything," Ivar tried to argue.

"We owe you our happiness," Rohan replied Which is everything.

"Enough of that!" Angus snorted playfully. "It was just a favour to two dear friends." He drank some ale. "After all, what are friends for?"

The End.


End file.
